


Time Betrays

by WotanAnubis



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Doomed Relationship, F/F, Introspection, Pre-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 02:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: In which Rhea contemplates the consequences of her actions.





	Time Betrays

**Author's Note:**

> It occurs to me that if I had taken the time to plan this fic properly rather than just throwing it together on a whim, I could've mined a lot of drama out of this.

Rhea looked at herself in the mirror and carefully dabbed at her eyes with a lace handkerchief. They were red, and her face was streaked with drying tears.

She'd cried many times over the centuries. She'd had cause. But her tears had dried in recent decades. Her plans were in motion, her efforts had borne fruit. She and her kind were safe, her enemies were few and weak, and soon she would... she would have...

She could not allow herself to finish that thought. It would have gladdened her so, once. It had lifted up her heart. Now it would leave her kneeling on the floor, sobbing her lungs out. As it had a scant five minutes ago.

Rhea cleaned her face as best she could, then smoothed out her dressed. Rather than wearing her sacred vestments, she wore a simply white dress of an elegant cut. She felt it rather flattered her curves. Hopefully Byleth would appreciate her efforts.

Byleth.

Rhea drew a careful, shuddering breath. No. She would not begin again. What was done was done, and what would happen would happen. For now she had the present, and that was all that mattered.

She should tell her.

Rhea bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. She should. Byleth's hair and eyes had already turned a pale green. Soon her mo- Soon Byleth would- Byleth was close to that final transformation. Should she really keep her in the dark? Would it not be better to tell her who she was and what was happening to her?

Byleth would turn away from her if she did. She would have every right to. Of course, it would not matter for long. Her mo- Sothis would soon return to her in that body, and Byleth... Byleth would spend those last few weeks of her existence hating her.

Rhea could try telling her that she'd had no choice. That Byleth would have died upon birth anyway. That only her intervention had saved her and given her some semblance of life, however subdued and fleeting. But even if Byleth accepted all of that, what would it matter? She had given her life with the intention of taking it away from her again. Why should she be grateful for that?

Perhaps it would have been better if Alois had never found Jeralt. Part of her had hated Jeralt, for a while. For taking the child from her. For taking Sothis from her. To keep her from her for all these years, for making her believe she was dead.

Now she thought that, perhaps, it would have been better if Sothis had simply shown up at the Monastery one day completely out of the blue. Then Rhea could have simply welcomed her back. She would not have cared that Byleth was dead. She would never have known Byleth, she would never have cared about her, she would have never grown to love her.

No. No, it would not be better. But it would have been easier.

There was a quiet knock at the door. Rhea's heart skipped a beat in a way Byleth's never had and never would. Because of she'd done to her.

Rhea quickly checked herself in the mirror. She looked more composed than she felt, and the dress suited her marvelously well. It would have to do.

Rhea opened the door to her bedroom. Byleth was there, as expected. There was faint smile on her usually passive face and her green eyes regarded her with a gentle kindness.

It was almost too much to bear. How could this woman look at her with such affection? Why did she not regard her with scorn and hatred?

Because she did not know.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Byleth asked.

Rhea smiled. She wasn't sure how sincere it was. "Of course. Forgive me."

"Struck dumb by my beauty were you?" Byleth said teasingly as she walked past her into the room.

"Yes," said Rhea. "Something like that."

Rhea closed the door and turned only to find Byleth right in front of her. She smiled and kissed her.

Like everything else about Byleth, it was soft and gentle and Rhea felt unworthy of it. But she did not reject it, or pull away. She allowed Byleth to kiss her, felt her body warm her, felt the glow of her affection wrap around her soul.

Next week the ritual in the Holy Tomb would take place. Next week Byleth would cease to exist.

"I love your dress," Byleth said, pulling away.

Rhea smiled, a blush lighting up her cheeks. "Thank you. I'd chosen it hoping you would like it."

"Well, I do."

"I had invited you over simply so we could enjoy each other's company," Rhea said, "but is there anything in particular you wish to do?"

"There is, actually," Byleth said.

"Name it."

"It's a lovely day and I don't feel like staying inside. So I'd like us to take tea in the garden together."

Rhea could hear Seteth's objections already. The Archbishop drinking tea with some commoner in a somewhat public place? It was entirely beneath the dignity of her office. And not even in her Archbishop's robes, but while wearing a (rather expensive) dress? It was not to be thought of. The scandal it would cause could undermine people's faith in the Church.

But Byleth would be dead soon. Those green eyes would never again look at her with quiet affection. Those soft lips would never kiss hers again. This was the last moment they'd have together. There would never be another.

"I'd love to," Rhea said through a forced smile. "Anything you wish."


End file.
